


Elementary, My Dear Lewis

by Daughter_of_the_TARDIS



Series: Strange Families [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sherlock (TV), Thor (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Darcy Lewis, Crossover, Darcy Lewis is a Holmes, Darcy Lewis is the fandom bicycle and I love it, Darcy Lewis-centric, Deductions, Genius Darcy Lewis, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-05-16 13:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14812143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS/pseuds/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS
Summary: “So you talked to Mycroft then?” She asked, sounding bored.  She looked up from her phone for half a second before going back to whatever game she was playing.  He had never taken the chance to actually examine the intern, brushing her off as unimportant just like the rest of his agents had.





	1. Chapter 1

“Sir.” Agent Barton said, stepping into the mobile command center for SHIELD and nearly sighing at the sweet relief of air conditioning. “We have a situation outside.”

“What seems to be the problem, Agent?” Coulson asked, walking towards one half of Strike Team Delta. The lower-ranked SHIELD agents scattered around him, creating a path. The sight had both Coulson and Barton fighting back smirks, but that was to be expected at this point. Both men had long since earned a reputation around the agency that had junior agents quavering in their boots.

“There's someone who needs to speak with you, sir.”. Barton clarified, standing at parade rest. “They're waiting outside.”

A black car was waiting for him in the middle of the desert, the sides covered with dust. He was slightly nervous about what might be about to happen - in his experience, strange black cars in the middle of nowhere were rarely a good thing, if ever. 

A young woman waited for him there, wearing a tailored suit and heels that put his 'minor government official’ disguise to shame. He was sure that even Pepper Potts herself would find it hard to find any faults in this woman’s power suit. “Ma'am, I'm afraid I'm going to half to ask you to leave the area.” Coulson said as soon as the door shut behind him, beginning to dig for his badge. “This is under SHIELD jurisdiction.”

“I'm not here for your alien artifact, Agent Coulson.” She said, and he froze. No one was supposed to know who he was, let alone what they were investigating out in the middle of nowhere.

“Who are you?” He asked, tensing slightly. Whoever she was, the Director would need to know of this development. People that knew the identity of Nick Fury’s one good eye were people who needed to be watched - particularly ones that had managed to stay off of SHIELD’s radar.

She tilted her head slightly to one side, studying him for a second before she answered. “Anthea.” she decided, pushing a chocolate brown curl back behind her ear.

“Is that your real name?”

“No.”

“What do you want?” Was the next question he asked, and the woman smirked. 

“I'm here on behalf of my employer.” Anthea said, pulling out a phone and handing it to the SHIELD agent. “He'd like to speak with you.”

She handed over the phone, and he stared at it for a moment before putting it to his ear. It had already been dialed and had rung, and so a voice started talking almost immediately.

“Agent Coulson, my name is Mycroft Holmes.”. The voice over the phone was sure of itself and smoothly bland in a way that the SHIELD agent was almost envious of. “I represent the British government.”

“What exactly does the British government want with a hammer in the middle of nowhere, Mr. Holmes?”. Coulson drawled.

“Interestingly enough, nothing at the moment.” Came the reply. “However, I am interested in one of the people you have… let's call it detained, shall we?”

“Mr. Holmes, neither Dr. Foster nor Dr. Selvig is a British citizen.” Coulson said patiently. He wasn't about to have the two scientists snatched out from under his nose from some nameless government official, not after all the trouble it took to get them on the payroll in the first place. 

“I never said that either of them was, Agent Coulson.” came the smooth reply. There was a hint of amusement to the voice, as if he was waiting for the other man to catch up to some piece of information that he considered trivial.

He went over the list in his head of everyone that could have been the missing citizen, and he nearly scoffed when he came up with the answer, but something - a feeling deep in his gut - stopped him. “Why is the British government concerned over an intern?” He asked, cautious despite every other instinct that was telling him the young woman wasn't a threat. But there was something about the way that she managed to almost disappear into the background until she was needed, or until she wanted to be heard. Then she was perfectly capable of making herself be noticed. 

“We have our reasons.” was his vague reply. “Which are none of SHIELD’s concern. Either way, should anything happen to Miss Lewis…” he let the threat hang open-ended, malice oozing out of his tone.

“I understand, sir.” Coulson replied. He still had no idea as to why Miss Lewis was so important, but was unwilling to argue with the man on the other end of the phone.

“Whatever you decide to do,” Mr. Holmes continued, “Do not inform her of our little talk. I’m afraid my sister can be… well, let’s just call it stubborn and leave it at that.” he hung up the phone then, leaving Coulson staring at the woman sitting across from him in shock.

“Sister?” he asked faintly, barely even noticing the faint crinkling around Anthea’s eyes that betrayed her amusement.

“Believe me, Agent Coulson,” she said, her voice bright with repressed amusement. “You’ve gotten the easiest of the Holmes’ siblings.”

8888

It took him all of five minutes after talking with Mycroft Holmes to locate Darcy Lewis at Izzy’s Diner - the only one in all of Puente Antigo. She didn’t even bother to look up from her phone as he approached silently, and there was a split second when he wasn’t sure if his intel was correct.

“So you talked to Mycroft then?” She asked, sounding bored. She looked up from her phone for half a second before going back to whatever game she was playing. He had never taken the chance to actually examine the intern, brushing her off as unimportant just like the rest of his agents had. He was regretting that - it was a rookie mistake that had definitely come back to bite him. Now that he actually took the time to assess her, he noticed things. The way her eyes darted around the room, cataloging everything. The way that she bit her lower lip when she saw someone new, as if to keep from blurting out something.

The agent paused, actually surprised. “Did he tell you that he talked to me?” Coulson asked, but the brunette shook her head. 

“The sleeves of your jacket are messier than they were before.” she noted, taking a sip of the tea in front of her, making a face as she did. “Meaning you were fiddling with them, which I've noticed is a nervous habit of yours. You also do it when you're wondering if someone has caught you staring at Agent Arms for too long. They haven't, by the way. I have of course, but you have my word that I won't tell anyone, on one condition.”. 

He was amazed. Gone was the annoyed twenty-year-old woman who only cared about her iPod and rating his agents on a ‘Hot-ness Index’. Instead, the woman before him studied him with icy blue eyes, picking out details that only Hawkeye himself would possibly notice, and then using them against him. He would have been impressed if he wasn’t so annoyed. “And what would that be, Miss Lewis?”. Coulson asked. He expected her to ask for any number of things - from what Mycroft had said, his sister was far from reasonable.

“I want my iPod back.” she said, completely seriously. There were no demands for diplomatic immunity, no wanting to know every one of SHIELD’s secrets, not even wanting Tony Stark’s phone number. Just her iPod.

“What’s the catch, Miss Holmes?” Coulson asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The catch is that you don’t secret Jane away to some top-secret facility.” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “And if you have to do it anyway, then you take me with her.” Something must have shown on his face, because she smirked. “I may be going by Lewis, but I’m still a Holmes. And we are very protective of the people we care about.”

He gave an awkward little head-bob, acknowledging her words in the only way that he knew where he could still save face.

She decided to cut him some slack. “So how did he get to you? A phone call, right?” She asked, and he nodded in reply. Darcy snorted. “Figures. He's always despised field-work.”


	2. Chapter 2

After Puente Antigo, everything was quiet… until Greenwich happened. Then it was portals everywhere, Jane disappearing and Scotland Yard being called - Lestrade sent one of his best officers, all the while muttering about ‘another bloody Holmes’.

She never even noticed the sheer amount of texts and phone calls accumulating on her phone, too busy with helping Jane keep her research safe from the jack-booted thug brigade.

8888

Two men stood at the police tape line that kept the general population away from the wreckage of what had once been part of Greenwich. One of them scanning the people inside, while the other one looking at his partner in annoyance, wondering why he had been dragged out of bed at five in the morning once again. Finally, the first man relaxed slightly, the harsh frown on his face relaxing into relief as he saw the person that he had been looking for.

“Are you ever going to tell me what we're doing here, or are we just going to stand here all night like a couple of idiots?” the second man asked, just in time for his partner to duck under the tape and start striding across the field. “Sherlock!” He called out uselessly, before ducking under the tape himself. He followed his husband across the field, muttering about bloody insufferable prats and popping coat collars.

“Janey, where do you want these spikey things?” A voice yelled, the American accent distinct enough in the middle of London to make him slow down for a moment. He only sped up when he saw his husband dart around a cluster of soldiers, paying them no attention whatsoever.

“Put them by the van, Darce!” Was the shouted reply, by another American. “Have you seen the durational spectrometer?”

“I’m pretty sure you just made that up!” the first voice shouted back. “But check by that pile of rubble!”

That was where Sherlock stopped - within sight of a short and curvy brunette ordering around what appeared to be an entire platoon of soldiers in black fatigues. She seemed to be taking orders from the even tinier woman next to her, making him believe that she must be an employee of some sort. Maybe even an intern, going by how young she looked. He was about to turn to his husband and ask him about it - his deduction skills, while still rudimentary, were getting better - when he noticed that the other man was already across the field, ignoring the large craters that filled it.

“Delilah Elizabeth Darcy Holmes, answer your phone when I call you.” the man said, running over and scooping up the intern in his arms. 

“Excuse me!” Jane yelled, her hands on her hips and eyes flashing. “Get your hands off of her! Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Relax, Janey. It’s alright.” Darcy said, hugging the man back as he pulled away to look her over. “I'm fine, Sherlock.” 

His pale eyes - that matched Darcy’s, Jane noticed - narrowed. “You’ve got three bruised ribs, a broken ulna, and most likely a concussion. Statistically not fine.” he deadpanned, quirking an eyebrow at her before turning to the man behind him. “John, I need you to take care of Darcy while I find out what the hell happened.”

A shorter man came out from behind the first, and Darcy lit up. She punched the dark-haired man in the shoulder. “You got married and you didn't call me?” 

Sherlock smirked while John just looked confused. “You did say not to call you for anything.”

“You eloping counts as something to call me for, duh.” She retorted. “I would have been there just to see the look on Mycroft’s face when he found out.” her American accent faded slightly with each word that she said, and John groaned as he realized what exactly was going on.

“He said Holmes earlier, didn't he?” the ex-army doctor said with a sigh, his forehead wrinkling slightly as he turned to Jane. The petite scientist just nodded, still watching the pair in slight confusion.

“How did you get past the jack-booted thugs, anyway?” Darcy asked. Sherlock smirked, holding up the identification that he had used.

“Nicked it from Mycroft the last time he hid my skull.” he explained, looking particularly smug.

She just rolled her eyes, sighing. “Of course you did. Look, don't you have a case to work or a landlady to bother? I'm actually kinda busy.”

“Fine.” He said, taking off his scarf and wrapping it around her neck instead. “Come and find us later.”

Darcy nodded, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. “Tell Lestrade I said hello.”

They disappeared into the crowd, with John pestering his husband about his sister, and Sherlock smirking as he heard his baby sister yelling at the agents around them. 

“Who was that?” Jane asked, watching them leave. The intern - Darcy’s intern, which she still thought was strange - sidled up to them, doing a very poor job of hiding his eavesdropping. “And since when do you have an accent?”

“That was my brother.” Darcy said, narrowing her eyes at Ian. He seemed to be trying a little too hard to overhear, and she quickly ran over her initial deductions again, then decided that he was just a fan of John's blog. “And his husband, apparently. That part’s new.” Jane had to work to hear the next thing the other woman said. “I always thought it would just be him and that bloody skull.” she raised her voice back to a normal volume. “To answer your second question, I’ve always had this accent. It just made it a lot easier to keep from standing out in America if I spoke like a typical college student instead of like myself.”

Jane was going to ask what on Asgard she had meant by that, when she noticed the expression on the new intern’s face. He was frozen in place, mouth hanging open slightly as he stared at the spot where the two men had hailed a cab. “That… that was Sherlock Holmes.”

“So glad you picked up on that. There’s a car here for you.” Darcy said abruptly, gesturing to a black limo that had pulled up on the other side of the road. A young woman with chocolate brown hair got out of it, smoothing out her skirt as she stood. “You should go. Get in.” she prompted, giving the man a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“What was that about?” Jane asked as soon as the man had done as he was asked, awkwardly looking over his shoulder at them every few steps. As soon as the door shut behind him, the car pulled away from the curb.

 

“My brothers have lots of enemies,” Darcy said quietly. “So they try and keep me out of things as much as they can. Anyone who finds out about me gets to talk to Mycroft.”

“What happens if they say something he doesn't like?” Jane asked, almost nervous. “Do I have to go face your brother?”

“Are you going to sell me out to the tabloids or enemies of the government?” Darcy asked in reply. She waited for the response, tensing up slightly as she did - she had never let anyone in on this part of her life before, and she wasn't sure what she would do if Jane decided to leave because of this. Even then, there was no way that she was letting Mycroft anywhere near Jane. She hadn't trusted him ever since the truth came out about Sherlock's death, and the part that he had played in it.

Luckily, Jane responded quickly enough that she barely had anytime at all to panic. “Of course not.” She scoffed. “Where would I be without my Science Minion?” she asked, linking their arms together.

It took a moment for her words to process properly, but then Darcy turned to look at her friend. “What?” She asked, as if she wasn't sure what she had heard.

“I said don't be ridiculous, Darcy.” Jane repeated. “So you're a little stranger than I thought. Honestly, it makes me a bit less worried about you.” 

“Why were you worried about me?” Darcy asked, incredulous. “Janey, I have to remind you at least five times just to get you to eat.”

“I was worried because you never seem freaked out by all the trouble we get into.” Jane admitted. “It's a lot to take in - and it doesn't even shake you.” 

Darcy froze. She had basically been lying to her best friend since the moment they met - about her family, about her past, about all the little things. About why she stayed away from high places and certain things made her cry. Jane had never once questioned her about any of it, just accepted it all as more of Darcy's quirks. 

It was official - Jane was the best.

“How would you like to meet him? Both of them - John and Sherlock.” Darcy asked, a small smirk tugging at her mouth. “I can make fun of him and tell his husband embarrassing stories, and you can pick both of our brains and learn why none of this stuff gets to me.”

“So why haven't you mentioned him before?” Jane asked. They made their way back over to the van, separating to pick up more of the spikes and other equipment that they had used during the convergence. “Having a brother is kind of a big deal.”

“We weren't exactly talking until recently…” Darcy said, struggling slightly in her explanation. The last few years had been hard - even though “He was kind of… dead.” 

Of course, that was what made Jane pause. “Did you say dead?”

Of course, Darcy didn't answer. Jane chased after her, looking worried.”Darcy. Darcy, what did you mean, dead? Darcy…”

She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her as her friend chased after her, her tone growing more frantic with each second that passed.

8888

It was just Jane and Darcy that showed up at 221b Baker Street later that night. Erik had been invited along, but had declined once he realized that he would have to wear pants. They climbed out of the cab, barely having a chance to get out before the driver sped away down Baker Street. Darcy hesitated a moment before she knocked on the door, but it was quickly opened by an elderly woman who baked, had a date later that night, and… Darcy blinked, double checking what she was deducing. But no, she was right. The smell of an ‘herbal soother’ was unmistakable. “You must be Mrs. Hudson.” Darcy said politely, giving a small smile as they came inside. “John and Sherl are upstairs, right?”

“Yes… and who are you, dear?” the woman asked, looking at them quizzically. 

“I’m Darcy, this is Jane.” she introduced them. “Sherlock’s my brother.”

Mrs. Hudson’s face lit up, ecstatic. “Sherlock’s your brother! I didn’t know he had a sister!”

She gave a tight smile, and Jane grabbed her hand - after they had finished scavenging the remains of her machines, she had explained everything that had happened in the last few years to her friend. “We haven’t talked for awhile.” Darcy explained, wrapping one arm around herself and keeping the other hand tucked in Jane’s. Immediately, Mrs. Hudson’s face fell as she realized what Darcy was talking about.

“Of course.” she said awkwardly, patting the girl on the shoulder. “I'll just let you go on your way, then.”

The two women shot her awkward looks, but hurried up the staircase past her. Jane hissed whispered questions at her under her breath as they made their way up the stairs - most about the landlady and whatever it was that she had managed to deduce about her. 

John and Sherlock were waiting for them - John with a polite grin, and Sherlock with his back to them, looking out the window as he played his violin.

“Why is that cow skull wearing headphones?” Darcy asked. She was looking over the flat with a critical eye, taking in the obvious signs that John Watson was caring for her brother. The place was nicer - and cleaner - than any of his old places had ever been.

Sherlock stopped playing, dropping the violin from its place under his chin. “Because it can.” he replied, giving her a slight smile.

That smile faded the second that Jane walked up to Sherlock and punched him in the face. John went to jump out of his chair, but Sherlock waved him off even as he tilted his head back to keep from getting blood on his clothing. “What did I do?” he groaned, looking down at the scientist.

“Three years.” Jane spat out. It was a ridiculous sight - the tall, dark, and mysterious consulting detective being terrorized by the tiny, pixie-like astrophysicist in plaid flannel. John was working his hardest to keep from pulling out a camera and snapping a picture of the scene in front of him. “You pretended to be dead for three years.”

“Janey, just leave it.” Darcy murmured, trying to calm her friend down. Once she had finished filling her in on exactly who Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson were - including the detective’s three-year death period - Jane had insisted that they go and meet up with the consulting detective immediately. Darcy should have expected this, really - based on her friend's history of bizarre displays of protectiveness, it was almost par for the course.

Of course, that just got Sherlock to react.

“What does that have to do with you punching me in the face?” Sherlock snapped, getting irritated. 

“Do you have any idea what that did to her?”. Jane snapped back. By that point, Darcy had stopped trying to corral her boss and had just slumped down in her seat, trying to ignore the curious looks that Dr. Watson was sending her. “Any at all? Because I do.”

“Jane, please.” Darcy stood up then, eyes flashing with an anger that was usually reserved for jack-booted thugs. “Just… leave it, okay?”

All at once, Jane seemed to deflate. “Fine.” she said, accepting what Darcy asked. That was the cool thing about Jane - she kicked total ass, but only when it was needed.

But it was too late - her brother was giving her a Look that meant they were definitely going to be talking about this later. 

“Shall we get going then?” Dr. Watson - call me John - asked awkwardly. He had looked far too awkward during the entire confrontation for anyone's taste

“I could eat.” Darcy agreed. She turned to her brother. “Are you on a case, or are you actually going to eat some food?”

Sherlock rolled his eyes, but admitted, “I could use something, I suppose.”

Jane didn't see what the big deal there was, but both Darcy and John acted like Sherlock wanting to eat was as rare as a blue moon eclipse.

“Sherly is going to eat without someone having to hold him down and force him?” Darcy teased, although she still looked slightly amazed. “Janey, get a camera, we need to document this for Science!”

Jane snorted. 

“So where are we going?” Darcy asked, and Sherlock turned to her with an expectant look on his face.

“You tell me.”. He said, and she frowned. 

“Really?” She asked. “You want me to deduce where we're going for dinner?”

He nodded, and she sighed. “Fine.” she said shortly. Her eyes scanned everything - the room, John, Sherlock, she even took a moment to quickly look Jane over.

“Angelo's.” Darcy decided finally, raising an eyebrow when her brother wilted slightly. “You're getting predictable, Sherly.”

He huffed, and she giggled when he couldn't come up with a reply. John almost expected some sort of cutting remark, but instead Sherlock gave her a small smile, ruffling her hair despite her squawk of protest. He had expected Sherlock to act the same way he did with Mycroft. To his surprise, his husband looked at her with the same sort of tenderness that he showed him and Mrs. Hudson and none of the scorn and condescending attitude that he gave Mycroft.

They all piled into a cab, with Darcy chattering happily at her brother and him interjecting occasionally, his rich baritone vibrating through John's chest as he leaned against the detective. 

Finally, Jane couldn't take it anymore. “How did you do that?”. She asked, leaning forward in her seat. Her eyes were lit up in that way that meant she had found a puzzle to solve, and she wasn't going to let up until she had figured it out.

“Do what?” Darcy asked absently, her eyes locked onto the scenery outside. When they had first arrived in London, Jane had assumed that she had been taking in the sights for the first time. It hadn't occurred to her that she might have been looking for reminders, lost in the past. 

“That thing - how did you figure out where we're going?”

“It was totally simple, really.” Darcy replied, finally tearing her eyes away from the window. “There are only about ten restaurants in London that my brother will eat at, not including the random take-away places that he visits. He's dressed normally - for him at least - which means it's none of the places where he would have to dress differently in order to keep from standing out. That erases three places from the list. I'm banned from another two on the list so those are off as well. And then, the final clue.” She smirked.

Sherlock rolled his eyes when it became obvious she wasn't going to finish her explanation without prompting. John couldn't help his laughter - even if she hadn't inherited any of the other Holmes genes, it would have been obvious that she was one just from her sheer love of dramatics.

“The final clue?” He prompted.

“My brother is the biggest show off that you will ever meet. That's why he likes to take people that he imagines will stick around for a long time to Angelo's - it's a good way to find out if they can handle what he can do, and Angelo loves to boast about Sherl’s abilities.”

John couldn't help the laugh that barked out of him, even as he reeled at the sudden realization that her words had brought. It was obvious that Sherlock had picked up on it as well from the way that he flushed.

8888

They made it to the first course of dinner with minimum fussing from Angelo himself - at first he had been suspicious when it seemed as though Sherlock had been paying too much attention to Darcy, but once she had made it clear that she was in no way interested in Sherlock, he eased up.

“How’s university?” Sherlock asked, sounding actually interested in it - something that surprised John, but not Darcy. While the youngest Holmes had never really taken an interest in the deduction side of things, she was very much a fan of knowledge. “Which degree are you on now?”

“Number four, although I haven't actually graduated this time yet.” Darcy replied, taking a bite of her chicken. “I’m honestly not sure I’m going to.”

“What?” Jane asked, looking shocked. 

“Political science was really just to appease Myc.” Darcy said, turning to explain to her friend. Then she realized that that probably wasn’t what Jane was referring to. “Oh. Um, yeah. I’m secretly a genius, surprise?” she offered weakly.

Jane stared at Darcy, and she prepared for the tiny scientist to storm out of the restaurant, to scream and shout and make a scene. Instead, she just took another bite of her food and turned her attention to John, asking him another question about his work. Darcy shot Sherlock a look, but her brother just shrugged - just because he was married didn't mean he had any idea what had just happened. Out of all the Holmes siblings, Darcy was the best at deciphering other people's emotions and how to appropriately respond to them. She still messed up occasionally - she couldn't help her slight blush as she thought about what she had mentally dubbed 'the iPod incident’ - although no where near as often as her brothers did.

“You're not mad?” She asked warily.

“Oh, I'm mad.” Jane disagreed, taking another bite of her pasta. “But I'll be really angry later. Now I'm just disappointed that you didn't tell me before. I always knew you were smarter than you let on.”

Darcy rolled her eyes - that was one argument they had been having for years, ever since she had first fixed one of Jane's machines. “I keep telling you I'm not that smart, Janey.” 

But Sherlock shook his head. “You're far better off than you give yourself credit for.” He said sharply. While he had deflected most of Mycroft’s talk over the years, Darcy had done the opposite and absorbed it. She always said that she knew he didn't mean it - being dismissive was practically Mycroft's way of saying hello. 

“Whatever, 'lock.” Darcy replied, sending him a look as if to tell him to drop the subject. “Tell me about your latest case - John hasn't had a chance to write it up yet.”

John blinked. “How did you…” he trailed off, realizing how silly his question was when both of the Holmes siblings turned to give him identically incredulous looks. “Nevermind.”


	3. Chapter 3

After the Convergence was when all the big names in Science! started to come around. They all wanted Jane to come work for them, but none of them were willing to let her keep Darcy on. One of them - the representative from Hammer Tech - had actually scoffed, saying that they had actual scientists who could do data collation for her. Jane had nearly sent him into a black hole in revenge. Not because he had said that Darcy wasn't a real scientist - Jane made that joke all the time. It had become a sort of inside joke between the two women, especially after Greenwich. It had taken all of Darcy's political skills to get them out of that mess. She nearly sent him into a black hole because of the… other comments he had made about Darcy.

Then Tony Stark showed up. Instead of shoving them around like almost everyone else had, he offered them a full package. Apartments in Stark Tower, a fully equipped lab, and all the benefits imaginable.

Plus, he bribed them with the one thing that Jane couldn't resist - Thor.

Not even a week after they arrived, Darcy had been given a second job to go along with her Scientist-wrangling - she had become the new Avengers media liason after her tweets about Tony and Thor went viral. She had a way of humanasing them all, even the Hulk, that had people shaking their heads. That was her superpower, it seemed - making even the biggest assholes and socially-awkward people seem like shining stars.

8888

“Jane, you've got to learn when to stop working.” Darcy said, coming back into the lab after a weekend away. “Honestly, have you slept at all?”

“I don’t need sleep, Darcy.” Jane retorted, popping up from behind one of her machines and barely paying attention to her assistant as she scribbled some calculations on a napkin. “I’ll be fine. Go enjoy your weekend.”

“Weekend was enjoyed, Janey.” Darcy replied, setting her massive purse down on her desk. It was covered in different pins from everywhere she had ever been, making it clink and rattle every time it was set down. “It's Monday morning now, which means you haven't slept in 72 hours. Come on, I'm taking you out for food and then you're going to bed.”

They had just gotten their coats when an alarm started blaring, and both women looked up. “Tell me that’s the alarm for Taco Tuesday or something.” Darcy said quietly, even as the look on one of her scientist’s faces told her otherwise. 

Jane hadn't seemed to pick up on that look, because she just looked exasperated. “Darcy… it isn't Tuesday.”

“And how would you know?” She countered absently, trying to deduce what that alarm could possibly mean to have Tony panicking like this. Of course, it only took her a few seconds to come to the obvious conclusion, but that was the one that she was hoping was wrong. “You thought it was still Friday.”

Tony rushed over to his workstation, already pulling up maps. “Where is she, Jarvis?” he asked, fingers moving lightening fast. “Where’s Pepper?”

Darcy cursed under her breath - her deductions had been right.

_“Miss Potts is currently scheduled to be at Gramercy Tavern for a lunch meeting.” Jarvis replied. “However, her tracking beacon was activated five minutes ago, heading in a southeastern direction.”_

By that point, the rest of the team had heard the klaxon and had come down to the labs. Steve was the first one in the room, shield at the ready and expecting some sort of attack. Instead, he found one out of three scientists having a nervous breakdown of sorts, and the other two trying to help him in any way possible.

“What's going on, Tony?” Natasha asked, the tiniest hint of worry flickering through her eyes. Tony and Natasha had bonded after everything that had happened - especially after the spy had realized that she was wrong about what kind of person Tony Stark was. Now they were almost like brother and sister, although neither one let that slip out around anyone but close friends. 

“Someone took Pepper.” Darcy informed them when it became clear that Tony wasn't going to say anything. The genius was still frantically typing away, Bruce and Jane on either side helping him work out tracking algorithms. “We don't know who or how, but we can assume why.”

“And why is that?” The Captain asked. Darcy shot him a withering look.

“Considering she's the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and she's currently shopping partners with the Black Widow and Hawkeye, yoga buddies with Bruce and Thor, and dating the Iron Man, there are a lot of reasons why someone would go after Pepper.”

“Not helping.” Jane hissed at her assistant.

_“Sir, the tracker has stopped moving.”_ JARVIS reported.

Tony smiled, about to summon the Iron Man armor when Natasha stopped him. “You need to stay here.” she said, looking as serious as she ever did. Tony just gaped at her, but despite the flash of sorrow that flickered across her face, she didn't back down.

“I'm sorry,” Tony scoffed. “I could have sworn you just said that I should stay here while you all go off to rescue my fiancee.” 

“That's exactly what she's saying, Stark.” The Captain intervened. “You're not stable enough to go out into the field.” 

The genius turned on the Captain. “When it's your Pepper that's missing, then you get to tell me what to do.” he snapped. 

That was when Darcy intervened. “Tony, you've gotten approximately three hours of sleep in the past four days. You're not going anywhere except a bed. If you want to stay up and help then you can, but you aren't going out there.” she told him.

Tony slumped over, a white-knuckled grip on the lab table. He drew a hand down his face, letting out a breath as he did so.

“We'll bring her back, Tony.” Clint told the inventor, clapping a hand on his shoulder. The genius gave the other man a small smile, nodding in agreement.

The rest of the team left within a few minutes, leaving Darcy behind to tend to her scientists. 

8888

The team returned to the Tower, and Darcy immediately knew how things went. The Captain radiated anger, like he did after a mission gone bad. The others - Thor, Clint, and Natasha - were angry too, but that was hidden by their sadness. 

“Tony….” Natasha said softly, actually looking worried. The scientists weren't quite sure why at first, and Tony was frantically looking around the room, as if he could simply will Pepper into appearing. 

“Where is she?” He demanded, and even though logically Darcy knew that she would have noticed even if Pepper was lingering outside - her perfume and the click of her heels were very distinctive - she still couldn't stop herself from scanning the room.

It was only when Natasha opened her hand, revealing Pepper's necklace, that Tony broke down. The LED that signaled the tracking beacon had been activated was still flashing.

The group converged on the genius - Science! Family first, then Team family after them. That only lasted a moment before he got up and started throwing things in a fit of rage. Expensive pieces of machinery hit the walls, some of them shattering on impact. 

The Avengers watched their friend rage against the world, with no idea how to help him.

8888

“I can't… I can't lose Pepper.” Tony said softly, running a hand over his face. He had finally collapsed, although no one wanted to get close to him just in case he started throwing things again.

“And you shall not, my friend.” Thor said gravely, clapping a hand down on his shield brother's shoulder.

“I know someone who can help.” Darcy said quietly, then repeated herself louder when it seemed like no one had actually heard her. 

Tony turned around, looking like she was his last hope, and if she hadn't already been about to pull out her phone, that would have been enough to make her do it anyway.

“Are you sure he'll come?” Jane asked, looking worried. The astrophysicist was biting her nails, arms crossed over her chest. While they weren't nearly as worried as Tony was, of course, both Jane and Darcy were worried about their friend. They spent almost every Avengers mission with Pepper, each worrying about their specific Avenger.

“Oh, he'll come.” Darcy promised, her eyes narrowed even as she dialed. “I'm not above threatening him with the worst thing imaginable.”. She put the phone to her ear, waiting for the call to connect.

“And what would that be?” Natasha asked, looking suspicious. According to all of the intelligence that she had gathered on Miss Lewis, there was no way that she could know anyone that could possibly help with this. Lewis spent more time with the Science Trio than the rest of the team, but she had still done a thorough background check. Darcy Lewis had no indicators that she was anything more than she appeared to be.

But Darcy waved her off, giving an apologetic smile. “John, hello.” she said, smiling into the phone. Everyone but Jane and Thor jumped when she suddenly sounded British - even Natasha couldn't quite hide the quick flash of surprise that crossed her face. “Is brother mine around? I'd have called him but I doubt he'd pick up.”. She listened to 'John’ answer, and she frowned. “I don't really care that it's an eight, John.” She snapped. “This is far more important. Now put Sherlock on the phone, or else.”. she gave a satisfied smirk, like she knew she had just won. “I'll call Mummy.”

She smiled victoriously a moment later, and Clint couldn't help the tiny grin that crossed his face. He reached behind his ear, turning his hearing aids up as loudly as he could stand them. Normally hearing aids wouldn't be powerful enough to pick up anything, but these had been designed by SHIELD’s R&D department, and so he was able to hear the moment that the voices switched, from a confused tenor to a deep, steady baritone. “What is it, Delilah?” he asked, sounding irritated.

“How soon can you be at Heathrow?” Darcy asked, not even mentioning how he called her by the wrong name. “This is important, 'lock. More than anything else that I've ever asked you. I'd solve this one myself if I could, but I'm not impartial enough.” she ran a hand through her hair, frowning when her fingers got tangled in it. “I'm panicking already, and yes I know, sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side, caring is not an advantage, etcetera etcetera.” She rolled her eyes. “I also still don't care about what Mycroft thinks.”

“Well at least you still know that much.” There was a moment of silence before he answered. “Does this have to do with your secret job working for the Avengers?” The voice asked, and Barton raised an eyebrow. No one was supposed to know about that. Darcy narrowed her eyes, signing at him. _Stop eavesdropping, Clint._ It had shocked him at first when she signed at him the first time, enough that he dropped the coffee pot that he was drinking out of. When asked how she knew that he was deaf, she had just rolled her eyes, saying that it really wasn't that hard to figure out.

He just shook his head in response. _But it's so interesting._ He signed back.

“Would you stop showing off for five bloody seconds, Sherlock Holmes?” she hissed into the phone, not even bothering to hide her irritation. The sign that she sent Clint was one that didn’t need to be translated.

“Tony, how soon can you have a plane ready to take off from Heathrow?” Darcy asked, placing her hand over the phone.

“At any moment.” came the immediate reply from the billionaire. “Just tell me when.”

“Brilliant. Sherlock, you will get your lazy arse to Heathrow, right now, or so help me I will get Mummy and Daddy on the phone. And I'll tell Donovan about the dance lessons.” Darcy threatened. She was pacing up and down the room, arms waving around as she fought back and forth with Clint about how him using his hearing aids to eavesdrop was cheating.

He sighed. “Fine. What's the case?”

“Missing persons. Hasn't hit the news yet, and it won't if I have anything to say about it.” Darcy said. “So will you come?”

“I'll be there.” His deep baritone said, and she rolled her eyes when the next thing she heard was the dial tone.

“JARVIS, call Rhodey please.” Darcy said, looking up at the ceiling as she hit the ‘end call’ button. “We’re going to need another cool head around here for when my brother gets here.”

“Your brother, Miss Lewis?” Steve asked, looking curious. “How is a civilian going to help us get Miss Potts back?’

“My brother…” she hesitated, not sure how well the next bit of information would go over. After all, she had technically been hiding a huge part of her life from her friends for a long time. “He's a pain in the neck, and a ridiculous egotistical arse, but he's also the best detective in the world. If anyone can find Pepper, it's Sherlock Holmes.”

Clint forgot about the signing war they were having as his jaw dropped open. “Sherlock Holmes.” He said, sounding awed. “Your brother is _the_ Sherlock Holmes.”

“You read John's blog, don't you?” she sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Of course I read John's blog!” Clint replied, looking mildly offended that she had even asked the question. 

“It's good.” She admitted, looking slightly distracted as she tucked her phone away and pulled out her Stark tablet. “A bit too romanticized for my tastes, but then that's John.”. She was still talking in her normal accent, having given up trying to hide who she was, and it was starting to annoy some of them. Tony had basically accepted it - she was offering to call in her brother and revealing all her secrets to help find Pepper, that was enough for him to believe that she didn't mean any harm. Jane and Thor already knew about her, of course, and Bruce had caught her fixing equations and coding enough times to know that she knew a lot more than she let on. Clint might not have picked up on anything strange about Darcy, but he trusted her enough to not question that she hid so much from them. That left Steve and Natasha who didn't know, and they weren't happy about it. However, Natasha realized that putting her irritation away for the moment was the best idea. If Darcy knew people who could help find Pepper, then she was willing to wait to find out what she wanted to know.

Steve, on the other hand, wanted to know everything and he wanted to know it now.

“Now hang on just a second.” He protested, grabbing ahold of Darcy's arm as she tried to walk away.

“Steven Rogers, let go of me.” Darcy said, fixing him with a look. “We don't have time for this.”

“Then you’re gonna have to make time.” he challenged. He had put on what the others called his ‘Captain-face’ - serious and strong and a little bit broody. 

“Actually I’m not, because - surprise surprise - I don’t work for you. In fact, considering Pepper is currently missing in action, technically I work for the most responsible person in the room.” she couldn’t help her smile when the others looked confused. “JARVIS, what else needs done?” 

_“I am currently taking care of Miss Potts online meetings, as well as answering texts, emails, and the occasional tweet.” the AI informed them. “Unfortunately, everything else requires Miss Lewis’ touch.”_

“That’s fine JARVIS, I can handle it.” She reassured, sending a grateful smile to the nearest camera. “Someone make sure Tony gets some sleep in the meantime.” she called out.

“And someone bring me a bloody cigarette!” She cursed, already tapping away at her tablet - with Pepper gone, it fell to her to make sure that none of the media outlets caught this. It would kill Pepper to come home from being abducted and have to deal with SI stock having taken a serious hit because their CEO got grabbed. “I've got a lot of work to do to hide all of this for now.”


	4. Chapter 4

John Watson-Holmes looked around in awe as they disembarked the private jet that Darcy’s boss had sent for them. Sherlock still hadn’t told him exactly what was going on, only that ‘Delilah needed them’. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that - he called his baby sister by her first name for the same reason that she called him ‘Lock’ and Mycroft ‘Myc’. Just to get on their nerves.

The driver - who introduced himself as Happy - hadn't said much, just confirmed who they were and told them where he was taking them. Other than that, they had been left in the dark. John had watched the city fly by out the window, putting together the pieces that they were in New York City when he saw all the landmarks.

It was only when Happy dropped them off in front of Stark Tower that he started to have the faintest idea of what they were getting into. There was a queue of sorts to get into the tower - five different security checkpoints in an attempt to keep out the rabid hordes of Iron Man fanatics outside. Happy took them straight through without stopping, making it halfway across the lobby before they were stopped by a receptionist.

“Miss Lewis is on her way down, Mr. Hogan.” the man said, not even bothering to look up from what he was typing. “She said to just leave the VIPs here and she’ll collect them.”

They weren't even waiting for two minutes before Darcy was on top of them. She came out of an elevator that was hidden in a wall, pushing an unruly curl back behind her ear even as she typed something out on the tablet in her hands. Despite the fact that she looked like little more than a college student in her layered sweaters and long-sleeved shirts, people still swerved out of her way. “You're late, 'lock.” She snapped, guiding them back into the elevator that she had just come out of.

“How can we be late, we've only just arrived.” Her brother snapped in return. They waited in the elevator for a moment, until she finished whatever she was typing.

“You were supposed to be here an hour ago - tell me you didn't stop for a shag.” she said, and they both blushed, even as they denied what she said. She quickly looked over them cataloguing everything that she saw and only relaxed when she saw that that wasn't why they were late.

“Traffic, then.” She decided, before turning her attention back to the tablet in her hands. “Take us upstairs, JARVIS.” She said politely. There was an edge to her voice that made both of the men with her look at her nervously. “We need some guidelines, before we get upstairs.” Darcy began, shooting her brother a Look. “Or else someone might forget their manners.”

“She's anxious.” Sherlock said softly, keeping his voice low enough that his sister didn't hear him. “Listen to her voice.”

John tuned back in for a few moments - Darcy was still lecturing them on what was about to happen and what they should and shouldn't do. “She sounds normal.”

“She sounds normal to us.” He corrected. “Delilah works hard to keep anyone from finding out about her connection to us all. That includes changing her accent. Not to mention the fact that she's taken up smoking again.” The last bit of information was said slightly louder, so there was no chance of Darcy not hearing him.

“Bite me, Sherlock.” She snapped. “We don't have time for this right now. Please be nice, Tony's really worried.”

“Hang on, Tony?” John asked. “As in…”

“Tony Stark.” Darcy nodded. “Don't be weird, we don't have time for it. Pepper's already been gone for almost eight hours.”

“Where's the team, J?” she asked, directing the question towards the ceiling. 

_“They are all gathered in the common area, Miss Lewis. I took the liberty of alerting them that our guests had arrived.”_

“Thanks, JARVIS.” She said, flashing a quick smile. She noticed John's confusion, and quickly explained even as the elevator doors opened. “Jarvis is the AI that Tony built years ago. He was originally built to be sort of a robotic butler, but over the years he's evolved into a lot more than that.” 

They made their way into the common area, where the rest of the team was waiting. Tony was pacing the room even as Bruce tried to get him to sit down. Sherlock's keen eyes darted around the room, taking in the other people that filled it: the redhead, sprawled elegantly on the sofa, the two muscular blond men - one of whom nodded in respect while the other glared. It took him a moment to spot the last person in the room, but finally he found the archer perched up high on a bookshelf in the corner. Jane was sitting on a countertop, chewing on her thumbnail with her hair in her face, deep in thought.

“'lock, John, this is the Avengers - Natasha, Bruce, Steve, Clint, and Tony. You guys remember Thor and Janey.” Darcy said, beginning the introductions. “Guys, this is my brother, Sherlock Holmes, and his husband Dr. John Watson. They're gonna find Pepper.”

“How much do you want?” Tony asked as soon as they had gone around the room doing the polite small talk that Sherlock hated. His eyes were bloodshot, and he smelled like he hadn't showered in several days - something that Darcy had assured them was normal. Apparently the inventor often lost track of time, spending days holed up in his lab until someone forced him to leave.

“Absolutely nothing, Mr. Stark.” Sherlock assured him. He had put on his most sympathetic expression for this one, figuring that if he didn't behave his sister would actually properly murder him.

“Now then,” he began, rubbing his hands together. “If someone could tell me what the missing woman looks like, that would be lovely.”

“You don't know Ms Potts?” Steve asked, incredulous. It seemed to the blond man that everyone in this time knew everything about everyone - that was one of the things he hated about it.

“Should I?” Sherlock asked, looking confused. “You don't.”

Steve started even as Darcy groaned, leaning her head against Natasha's shoulder. “Here he goes…” she muttered, wishing that the floor would just swallow her up. Knowing all of the security measures that Tony had put in when he rebuilt the Tower after the Battle of New York, she wouldn't have been surprised if that was possible.

“What do you -” Steve started, but Sherlock cut him off.

“You act like you know her, but you don't - you barely spend any time here at all.” He deduced. “Everyone else here is appropriately worried, but you - you're just here because you have a sense of duty.”

“As much as I like seeing the Capsicle put down a few notches, he does have a good point.” Tony interrupted Sherlock's deductions before they could go too far. He took a few steps forward, stumbling slightly - he had already been in need of sleep before this all began, and the stress of the situation wasn't helping things.

“If you don't know who Pepper is, or want money, then why are you here?” Tony snapped. He ran his hands through his hair as he finally flopped down on the couch.

Sherlock rolled his eyes, as if the answer was obvious. “She threatened to tell Sergeant Donovan about my dance lessons. She wouldn't have done that if she wasn't worried about you.”

Darcy's eyes widened slightly, giving an awkward smile when the team turned to look at her. “What?” She protested. “I panicked, okay?”

“You're getting a raise, kid.” Tony said, giving her a small smile. She rolled her eyes - it was the same thing that he always threatened her with whenever he felt like she was getting too emotional. It was a strange way of showing that he cared, but it worked all the same.

“Let's just let those two get to work.” She said quickly, jumping to her feet. “JARVIS, pull up all surveillance of the area where Pepper was last seen.”

“No, I need the actual crime scene. Not images of it.” Sherlock argued. Darcy rolled her eyes. “Take me there.”

“No.”

“Why not?” 

“Sherlock, I'm not Lestrade - I'm not going to give into what you want just because you argue with me about it. Now get to it.” She demanded, even as she pushed everyone else out of the room. 

8888

Only twenty minutes or so had passed before Sherlock came running in. “Found her.”. He reported, and almost everyone in the room looked at him like he was insane. Darcy and Tony looked relieved, while Clint was practically in awe.

“That was fast.” Steve said, sounding slightly suspicious.

“Of course it was fast, Cap.” Clint said, rolling his eyes. “He’s Sherlock Holmes!”

“If anything it took him a bit longer than some cases.” John offered, giving an innocent smile when his husband glared at him.

Sherlock ignored them all, focusing on his baby sister instead. “Remind me why you couldn't solve this?”

“I told you Sherlock - I'm too involved.” She said irritably. And it was true - it made it fifty times harder to be impartial when you knew the victim personally. “Not to mention we're going to need you for the rescue itself.”

“I'm sorry, what?” Steve asked, and even Tony looked a bit nervous at the idea. Luckily, it was Clint to the rescue.

“Remind me again why we need them, Darcy-Lou?” he asked, slinging an arm around her shoulders. The grin on his face looked slightly forced, but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes that made her wary.

“Because John is army trained, and Sherlock is Sherlock.” she said, giving him a grateful look. 

Steve looked mildly impressed. “You were in the army?” he asked. John nodded, shifting slightly to stand at attention.

“Captain John Watson, formerly of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers.” he said stiffly. Steve nodded his respects.

“They’re expecting the Avengers to come in.” Darcy explained, regaining their attention. “What they won’t expect is two men to go in and get Pepper while the rest of you cause a distraction out front.”

Now Tony was nodding along with her, starting to see her plan for what it was. “We’re the bait and they’re the rescue team.”

“Exactly.” Darcy smiled, and it was then that the team could truly see the Holmes blood in her. It was there in the way her eyes lit up at a challenge, in the little smirking sneer that curled the corner of her lips whenever someone argued with her. “Now get to it - go assemble or whatever it is that you do.”

8888

It took less than two hours for John and Sherlock to bring Pepper home safe and sound. The Avengers Quinjet landed on it's specialized pad, with the team pouring out from inside it. The Iron Man suit landed barely a second before them, with Tony rushing out as soon as it opened.

Pepper barely managed to stand up from where she sat on the couch before he was on top of her.

“Tony, I'm fine.” She said, running her hands up and down his arms as she tried to reassure him. “Dr. Watson checked me over, I'm fine.”

“You're mostly fine.” John corrected. “Nothing a good cuppa and some sleep can't fix.”

Tony leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to her hairline. She leaned slightly into his side, willing to let a bit of her fatigue show now that there wasn't a chance of their being cameras anywhere nearby.

“Right then!” Sherlock said awkwardly, clapping his hands together. “Lovely seeing you again, Delilah. But it's past John's bedtime, so we really must be going.”. Darcy pulled him in for a hug, which he reluctantly returned.

“There's got to be something I can do - you like money? Tech?” Tony offered, with his arms still wrapped around Pepper's waist.

John stopped Sherlock before he could say anything. “No thank you, Mr. Stark.”

“Don't need money or anything of the sort - just passage back to London, if you don't mind.” Sherlock said, giving an awkward smile.

Tony looked like he was about to argue, but Pepper intervened. “Of course.” She said, smiling gratefully. “Happy can take you back to the airport whenever you're ready.”

“See you soon, brother mine.” Darcy said, smiling softly as the doors closed in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter and then this story is over! Thank you all so much for reading this and all the praise I've gotten for it, it means so much to me. 
> 
> Also, there is a reference somewhere in an earlier chapter - if you can find it, it gives a clue as to which fandom Darcy will be joining next. Let me know what you guys think!


	5. Chapter 5

It was not a good day, Darcy had quickly realized. They had run out of tea on the floor that she shared with Jane. While she kept extra in the Avengers common kitchen, it still ended up making her late. After that, there was the new lab assistant who - according to one of the other lab techs - didn't seem to understand that they weren't allowed in the Science Trio’s lab space. Of course, it only took her a few seconds to deduce that said assistant wasn't actually an assistant at all - he was HYDRA. One quick phone call to security took care of that - along with a quick nerve pinch to knock him out first.

Then it was a partial robot uprising from U and Butterfingers, who had decided that they were done being Tony's helpers. Dum-E was more than willing to help her get them back under control.

And that was all before she walked into the common area and found her brother sitting on the couch talking with Tony and Bruce, wearing some ridiculous blue onesie. Clint and Steve were over on the other couch, watching a movie - Clint had taken it upon himself to teach the captain the finer points of action movies. They were currently working on the Die Hard films, something Clint swore was the pinnacle of filmmaking.

“Sherlock, why are you wearing pyjamas?” Darcy asked, rolling her eyes as she made her way across the room. She had stopped hiding her accent around the team - Tony had started to call her Queen D, and she just rolled her eyes every time. “Honestly, you look ridiculous. What are you supposed to be, Harry Potter?”

“Darcy..” Steve tried to warn her. She ignored him, continuing with her rant at her brother. She honestly had no idea what her great aunt Peg had ever seen in the captain - Uncle Pink had always said that they were meant to be. “The pirate phase was terrible enough, honestly. And yes, I know I wasn't alive back then, but Mycroft has pictures and so does Mummy.”. She made her way over to the cabinet, pulling out a stack of bowls. If she didn't feed the scientists, then no one would. 

Tony snorted a laugh at that, and Clint had long since dissolved into giggles. She noticed them of course, but ignored it as she continued making lunch and berating her brother. “Where's John, anyway? I could use his help - Jane doesn't seem to realize that she needs to eat more than just Pop Tarts, and I thought maybe talking to an actual doctor about it might get her to at least eat a fruit every so often.”

Finally, Clint managed to contain himself enough to say something. “Darce, that's not your brother.”. 

“Huh.” She said, turning around to look at him fully. Before she had only taken in the basics - pale, blue eyes, dark hair, ridiculous cheekbones. Now she saw the white streaks in his hair, the extra lines around his eyes that he tried to hide. “Apparently not. 'Lock’s got a twin, lovely.”

“Who the hell are you?” Dr. Strange asked, looking over the woman in front of him skeptically. She was covered in layers of sweaters despite the climate controlled tower, hair braided over one shoulder. 

“Darcy Lewis.” She replied, falling back on her old alias. She had stopped using it after John and Sherlock came to visit the first time, although it was still the name listed on all her official documents. “I help Tony in the labs - make sure he doesn't get himself killed and keep him from building any more killer toasters.”

“You've got to be more than that.” The man sniffed. “Otherwise you aren't worth our time.”

She stiffened at that, and the team noticed. They could see how she was biting her tongue, trying to keep from saying anything that might make the man not want to work with the team again. To have someone who looked identical to the brother who had always been her biggest fan saying such things about her… it was almost more than she could take. Her eyes narrowed as she stared him down - which of course meant that Tony jumped in.

“Do your stuff, shortstack.”. Tony said, rubbing his hands together in glee. There was something about Stephen Strange that rubbed the genius the wrong way. Because of that, he was all too enthusiastic to see the Sorcerer Supreme get taken down a notch.

She took a few seconds to look the man over, quickly cataloguing everything that she saw. “Ex-surgeon, one… no, two failed romances. No - one romance, twice - both times with the same woman. Poor girl, having to deal with you that much.” Darcy remarked, deductions coming to her faster than she could spit them out. While she didn't have the same knack for using her tongue as a whip to flay people alive like her brother's did, she could still wound with her words. Judging by the way he flinched back, she would say her words had hit their mark. “Time spent in Asia… Tibet, to be specific. I can't see anything else.” she mused.

For the first time in as long as the Avengers had known him, the Sorcerer Supreme was speechless. “How…” he said, and now that she could hear his thick American accent, it was easier for her to distinguish between him and her brother. “How could you possibly know all that?” he asked.

But she just smirked. “You have your magic tricks,” she said, giving away the other key bit of information that she had deduced. “And I have mine.”. With that said, she turned back to what she was cooking, calling to Bruce and Tony to sit down at the table.


End file.
